A 1993 batch IAS officer of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, Vikram Dev Dutt, has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India Ltd as part of a senior-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Tuesday. He has been appointed as the Air India chief in the rank and pay of Additional Secretary.
Dutt’s appointment comes nearly a month after the Competition Commission approved Tata Group's proposed acquisition of Air India, Air India Express, and AISATS.
Prior to this, Dutt was appointed as Principal Secretary for Health and Family Welfare Department of the Delhi government in June 2020. However, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal transferred the IAS officer of AGMUT 1993 batch and posted him as principal secretary of the Services department in March 2021. Dutt, in 2020, assumed the charge of Delhi's Health and Family Welfare Department as principal secretary to push government's measures to contain the COVID-19 cases in the national capital.
Talace Pvt Ltd, part of Tata Group, is to acquire a 100 percent stake in Air India and Air India Express and a 50 percent shareholding in Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd (AISATS).
The Tata group firm had emerged as the winning bidder for Air India in October 2021, with a bid worth Rs 18,000 crore. It will pay Rs 2,700 crore cash and take over Rs 15,300 crore of the airline's debt.